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STRONGSVILLE, Ohio – It was almost like a meeting of old friends instead of a summit regarding regional cooperation Friday as over 150 local civic, elected and community leaders filed into the Ehrnfelt Recreation and Senior Center.

The Northeast Ohio Regional Summit – a collection of panel discussions and speeches designed to produce collaborative solutions to challenges facing area communities – allowed opportunities for leaders to network and discuss mutual problems.

"It was great ... to actually see people getting up out of their chairs and going over and introducing themselves," said South Euclid Mayor Georgine Welo. "Getting the bipartisan agenda going is what we need locally and we need it for the state of Ohio."

Two major themes became evident as the event stretched into its fourth hour: It was a major feat just to assemble so many officials to talk about regionalism and that transportation issues are on the minds of leaders across the region.

Who was there

City council representatives, union leaders and mayors, along with people from different organizations, such as Fresh Water Cleveland, attended the event. There were two key speakers for the event: David Rusk, a national policy expert, and Steve LaTourette, the former congressman from Bainbridge.

Panelists included representatives from Parma, Lorain, Beachwood, Shaker Heights, the Laborer's International Union of North America, Medina County and Cuyahoga County.

No elected officials from the City of Cleveland were present at the event, according to the participant list, although there were members present from groups such as the Center of Public Innovation and the Plumber's Union Local 55. The City of Cleveland was not able to confirm by the time of publication.

What was discussed

Regional cooperation

The event was organized by Building One Ohio in cooperation with Building One America. Building One America promotes the idea of focusing on how federal and state policies affect an entire region instead of just specific cities or groups.

"We all are beginning to endure the same difficulties, we have to find an alternative solution or road that we can walk down together," said Strongsville mayor Thomas Perciak.

In his speeches, Rusk noted power may become fragmented because of the number of municipalities in the Cleveland area, but cooperation is one way to work past the seemingly unchangeable structure of the area, he said.

"Don't think about governmental mergers... it's not going to happen," he said. "But you can learn to act as one on issues that cross municipal boundaries."

And when it's so hard to get officials to get together in one place – Welo said she had been working for two and a half to three years towards this kind of meeting – making an effort to create a "unified front" becomes even more important.

"We represent a large group of people," said Mary Dunbar, a councilwoman from Cleveland Heights. "We're all basically facing or going to be facing the same problems... we should be collaborating."

The federal highway act

The discussion also focused on the upcoming expiration of the current federal highway act. The legislation, which will expire in October, funds and directs the allocation of over $100 million in federal transportation dollars.

Forty officials from the region, including 14 from Ohio, traveled to Washington D.C., last week to meet with members of the U.S. House of Representatives Transportation and Infrastructure Committee.

LaTourette noted in his speech that transportation should not be a partisan issue, and that lack of compromise will hinder the ability to make progress.

"It's not a big partisan-fest," he joked. "I would challenge you to go find a Republican road or a Democratic bridge."

There are several proposals for extending the current bill, including a one-year extension proposed by House Republican leaders that would fund the measure by scaling back Saturday mail delivery, according to the Wall Street Journal.

But regional officials aren't seeking out funds to necessarily build "fancy new stuff," as LaTourette said, but instead to follow a '"Fix It First" policy, which would direct money to repairing existing roads, bridges and transit lines.

"We have great infrastructure that already exists, we just need to repair it or replace it," said Bonnie Teeuwen, director of public works for Cuyahoga County.

Teeuwen said that the county can have an instrumental role in bringing local governments together to address issues like distribution of federal funding.

"You get (to solutions) by having a regional plan and sticking to that regional plan," she said.

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